


Terminus

by draconicsockpuppet



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It of Sorts, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-13 22:27:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21005153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/draconicsockpuppet/pseuds/draconicsockpuppet
Summary: In 'Orders', Fives had a lot to tell Anakin and Rex about the control chips. What if Anakin had believed him?





	Terminus

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jen425](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jen425/gifts).

As the ray shield shot up, Anakin took stock of the situation. Fives seemed delirious – and upset.

"I just need you to listen to me. Please."

"We don't have to go to the Temple," Anakin allowed. "I know there's something wrong, Fives. You've always served the Republic with honor. I came here today without any troops because I trust you. Do you trust me?"

Silence lay like a blanket over the empty warehouse. Rex lifted an expressive eyebrow; Anakin gave him a look.

"Yes, sir," Fives said at last.

"Then let me help you."

"The chips – the organic chips built into our genetic code," Fives said, clutching at his head. "They can make us do whatever someone wants, even kill the Jedi."

"Who can we take him to?" Anakin looked to Rex.

"Kix –"

"No clones," Fives broke in. "We all have the chips!"

"That means no Kaminoans, either, given where your chips had to come from," Anakin said. "How about a med droid?" 

"No Jedi!" Fives said. "No Chancellor!"

"No Jedi, no Chancellor," Anakin agreed. "I know somewhere we can get a civilian med droid with no connection to either the Senate or the Jedi. How about it?"

The sound of boots pounding against the floor echoed through the warehouse as a squad of red-armored Coruscant guards poured in through the front. "Drop the field!" Anakin ordered.

Fives scrambled back and shot the field projector hanging from a rafter. Anakin leapt to cover the two clones, deflecting the guards' blasts away while Rex and Fives ran out the back.

"Halt!" Commander Fox shouted. "That clone is a criminal!"

"Is he?" Anakin spun his lightsaber in one of his favorite showy maneuvers; Master Obi-Wan was probably twitching somewhere right about now.

"Shoot him!" Commander Fox told his men.

"Yeah, no thanks." Anakin deflected a few more shots back at the guards, then deactivated his lightsaber and ran for it with Force-enhanced speed. He caught up to Fives and Rex half a block down the street.

"So, a conspiracy," Rex said.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you," Fives said.

"Let's get you looked over." Anakin looked back at the warehouse. "I'd like to know more about these chips."

* * *

"Thanks for this, Dex." Anakin handed over a credit stick. "I owe you one."

"Aw, you're a good kid, Skywalker," Dexter Jettster said as he palmed the credits. "Tell that master of yours hi from ol' Dex, will ya?"

Anakin nodded and shut the door behind him.

"Where are we?" Fives seemed to be doing a little better. "Where is Rex?"

"This clone has been drugged," the med droid said in a high, clear voice. "Shall I administer the antidote?"

"Please," Anakin told it. He sat down on the bench beside the bunk Fives was laid out on. "We're at a sleazy hotel in the lower levels under a fake ID Master Vos gave me years ago."

"And Rex?"

"He went back to report and lay a false trail for us. I'm supposedly looking for you still – that should give us a few days."

"The chips," Fives said. "We all have them. We're all plants to kill the Jedi."

"I talked to Master Ti, and I need to send her the data we get off this droid," Anakin acknowledged. "She'll look into it. But – you have to know it looks bad, Fives, after you tried to kill the Chancellor."

Fives looked at the wall.

"Anyway, I got us two berths on a freighter going to Malastare. We'll have to hop to a different ship at that point to get to the Outer Rim, but it's not far. There's a lot of traffic going along the Hydian Way even with the war on. We'll be fine."

Fives turned to face him. "Sir? What do you mean, 'we'?"

"I'm coming with you. You can't stay on Coruscant, you can't stay in the army –"

Fives hissed out a breath.

" – and you're not safe to travel alone. So I'll take you to Terminus and do some scouting along the way, then come back. I already talked to Master Ti about it; she's covering for us." Anakin smoothed his hand over Fives' head. "You just worry about getting better."

Fives reached out and grasped Anakin's wrist in a shaky clasp. "Yes, sir." He fell asleep with his hand still in Anakin's.

* * *

The plan went fine until they got to Eriadu.

_Clone Wars Won! Jedi Declared Traitors!_ declared the HoloNet News. _Chancellor Palpatine Establishes Galactic Empire!_

"E chu ta," Anakin said with feeling. There was a wanted poster on the Holonet offering a reward for his body, dead or alive. _Master Obi-Wan_ had a wanted poster.

"I don't think you're going back to Coruscant either, sir." Fives frowned. "I wish we'd been able to do more to stop this."

Anakin looked at him. "What if my warning to Master Ti caused the Jedi to attack the Chancellor?"

"Maybe you did change the conspiracy's timeline. If the Chancellor felt threatened..." Fives sighed. "Who knows? We couldn't have disabled all the chips in a week by ourselves. You trusted Master Ti to handle the investigation. She had a better chance of success than we did, and she failed. There's not much else we could have done, sir." 

"Yeah." Anakin shut off the lounge holocaster. "Yeah."

"Who do you want to be when we get to Terminus? We're going to need airtight cover identities."

Anakin scratched his chin. "I always was good with mechanics."

"I want to grow things," Fives decided. "Plants can't be too hard, right?"

"Good luck with that." Anakin slapped him on the shoulder and then turned the holocaster on again.

"It's not going to be any different."

"You don't know that!" Anakin threw up his hands as the headlines popped up again. "This 'Galactic Empire' could be some kind of collective delusion! The Force works in mysterious ways!"

Fives shook his head.

* * *

On Terminus there was a little shop on the back side of the spacer district filled with flowers and strange plants from all over the galaxy. It was owned by a grizzled old clone named Domino whose husband Ani worked on freighter engines, and strange people came and went at all hours of the day and night. Some said it was a safehouse for rebels, or Jedi, or deserters; some said Domino had the best flowers for sale in the whole quadrant. All anyone could agree on was that the two men were happy, far from the chaos of the core.


End file.
